The Middle Distance

That's what a friend of mine calls it, because as soon as those huge berms of gray snow on the sidewalks melt, all the dog shit and trash that's been frozen under them for weeks becomes all too visible and all too thawed.

The advent of Dogshit Moon is usually accompanied by gloomy overcast skies and weather that's really far shittier than actual pretty winter snow (freezing rain, sleet, more rain, more ice, more sleet, wet snow that turns to slush immediately, etc).

Dogshit Moon is a very good time for unpacking boxes from recent moves, facing the reality of overdue bills, ignoring one's text messages, cleaning litter boxes, and thinking about how much better one's circumstances are going to look in the near future.

A virtual Dune Buggy! Awesome! Thank you, celandineb! <3


Man, going down into the subway stations is like walking into an oven....where someone is baking a urine cake. (Like a rum cake, but with piss.)


This is the time of year when summer has so completely overstayed its welcome that I went into squealing waves of joy to see that Walgreens is starting to roll the Halloween candy out.

....a TORNADO WATCH?

What's making me happy today:

The day itself. It's chilly and grey and the trees on my street are half bare, half beautifully colored. It's the best kind of reading and writing and listening-to-music day. It's the kind of day where I can sit around in my PJ's writing all the time and not feel guilty about it, because there is no incentive to go anywhere.

Food. OH MY GOD. I just ate a bowl of instant oatmeal with maple syrup added, a chopped apple with honey, and half a pound of cottage cheese and I'm STILL HUNGRY.

Coffee. Trader Joe's has my beloved Wintry Blend back in stock (with cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns).

WFMT. Beethoven's 9th by the CSO with Daniel Barenboim. That piece is a cliché for a reason, people. And the orchestra I phone-whore for is so frequently flawless.

wrisomifu. At last, a writing support community that understands Miserable Fuckitude well and sets the bar fittingly low. No, I haven't done 10 minutes every day. But when I do, it's never just 10 minutes, because paragraphs are like potato chips.

My three WIPs. Yes, three. One of them is very vague, but sinister and sexy and was inspired by a convo on an HP fic community. It's Grindeldore. It's historic. It's songfic. It's Current 93 (!) songfic. The others are GO, one is sekrit for now, and the other is REALLY FUCKING LONG and will only get longer.

You?

...going grocery shopping and getting to enjoy the spectacular freaky storm clouds creeping up on the city while waiting for the bus on the way home, feeling that charged wind in my hair as I tote my kill, watching the sunset-ish gold light playing on the leaves spiralling around in the wind and the eerie purple-and-teal-and-olive-green clouds that say YOU'RE IN FOR IT NOW when you live in the Midwest unfurling at the end of your street...

and having the downpour start 5 minutes after getting safely home.

Attention: Summer.


GET. THE. FUCK. OUT.

90F tomorrow? NOT acceptable.


Look, I know we've never gotten along. I've tolerated having my birthday stuck in the middle of you my whole life and I think I have generally been polite about it. But frankly, you've become especially loathesome lately: hot, muggy, rainless, and relentlessly too fucking bright. All that harsh yellow sunlight for weeks on end uninterrupted? NOT pretty. It's tacky, monotonous, dreary, and about as pleasant as a the visual equivalent of a car alarm that won't stop.

I can understand how you might be a little bit confused, because the Cubs are still playing (and still losing) but it is NOT July. It is October. You wore out your welcome in August. GO. AWAY.

No love,
Me.

PS: Weather gods - if you want to make it up to me, let's have lots of deep fluffy snow this year. I've been feeling pretty ripped off the last couple.

That last storm just blew my window in. Not breaking it - popped it right out of the frame, with sheets of rain pouring in! Fortunately, Phil, the handyman downstairs neighbor was in - what a sweetheart. Put a screw on it so that won't happen again. I owe him a cake!

*looks up at sky* Oh boy, another one!

Ran into divinetailor downtown earlier - turned on the Powers of Persuasion for G's gig at the Darkroom tomorrow night. Lee squee!

And y'all?

Well, this October has definitely been suitably autumnal for my tastes.

I'm a bit sad I've decided not to participate in yuletide this year, but it's for the best. My therapist and I were just talking about anxiety issues today. Deadlines are good for my writing but bad for my nerves, and I have enough already for now. Besides, I'll have fun doing what I did last year: picking up an orphaned request for NYR '07 and giving someone a happy surprise at my leisure.

Things making me happy on LJ today: linaerys's Continuum of Slash. So handy to have it all diagrammed out like that!

Also, sixlittlewords. For those who find drabbles too rambling and wordy.